Nail puller



July 3, 1956 O. C. SVEHAUG NAIL FULLER Filed Jan. 11, 1955 INVENTOR. OSWALD C. SVEHAUG United States Patent Ofice 2,753,151 Patented July 3, 1956 NAIL PULLER Oswald C. Svehaug, Portsmouth, R. I., assignor of onehalf to Elmer N. Fralick, Middletown, R. 1.

Application January 11, 1955, Serial No. 481,130

2 Claims. (Cl. 254-26) This invention is concerned with hand tools, and more particularly means for pulling nails in the structure of a nail driving device.

A problem that has existed for years is how to pull a nail from a board without injuring the board and without bending the nail.

It is a purpose of the within described invention to provide a device within which are means for pulling nails straight.

It is another object of this invention to provide a ham mer which when used for pulling nails will not injure or mar up the board or wood.

It is yet a further object of this invention to provide a device that is inexpensive to manufacture and yet performs the aforementioned functions.

These and further objects may be best understood by reference to the following detailed description in which reference is made to the drawings.

Figure 1 is a perspective view of the entire device.

Figure 2 is a top plan view of the device.

Figure 3 is an exploded view of the nail pulling arrangement as shown in Figure 2.

Figure 4 is a side elevation view of Figure 3.

The device herein disclosed is basically the structure of a carpenters claw hammer. The claws 1 of this type of hammer are almost parallel to the axis of the hammer handle 5 and shank 4. The driving head 2 and body head 3 are, of course, conventional. The shank 4 is made of a sturdy metal such as a light weight steel. The handle 5 may also be of metal or wood or any equivalent material.

In the top of the shank at 4a is an opening 7. The front of the opening 7 has two dihedral sides 8 which merge together at a point 6. Beneath the dihedral sides 8 is the opening 7 bounded by a front wall 9 and a diagonal surface 11. The lower parts of sides 8 have a surface 10. Flanges 8a are actually formed by the dihedral sides 8 and their lower surfaces 10.

In operation, the user starts the nail that is desired to be removed by the conventional method of pulling with the claw hammer. As soon as the head is out far enough, about 4", he turns the hammer over so that opening 7 is above the nail head. He then pulls the handle in a direction so that the nail head 12 is beneath the flanges 8a, as can be seen by reference to Figure 3. The nail 12 is then pulled by merely holding the end of the hammer and letting the back of the claws 1 rest on the surface in which the nail is imbedded. The nail will come out straight and there will be no injuring of the wood.

To remove the nail from between the flanges 8a, the user merely pushes it back to the open portion 7 and it will drop out.

In consideration of the foregoing disclosure, I claim:

1. A hammer having a shank, a head at one end of said shank and a handle at the other end of said shank, and a three dimensional opening in said shank for pulling nails, said opening having a diagonal bottom surface, and a pair of dihedral lips that come to a point.

2. A hammer having a shank, a head at one end of said shank and a handle at the other end of said shank, said head having a pair of claws that are parallel to the shank at their extended portions, and an opening means in said shank for pulling nails, said opening means having a diagonal bottom surface, and a pair of dihedral lips that come to a point above the lowest portion of said diagonal surface.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 778,093 Witmer Dec. 20, 1904 845,672 Thompson Feb. 26, 1907 1,550,405 Williams Aug. 18, 1925 FOREIGN PATENTS 498,299 Great Britain "-1 Jan. 6, 1939 

